In Search of My Father... Bill Hawkins Closes at East Bay Center
"In Search of My Father...Walkin’ Talkin’ Bill Hawkins," written by and starring W. Allen Taylor of Berkeley, Calif., celebrates Black culture and the legacy of Black radio. The 90-minute solo show, presented through March 4 at the East Bay Center for the Performing Arts in Richmond, tells the story of Taylor's life-long search for his father, Bill Hawkins, the first Black disc jockey in Cleveland, Ohio.
About the show: "Infused with the lively sounds of rhythm & blues, gospel and jazz music that made Bill Hawkins so acclaimed, Taylor skillfully portrays a range of richly defined characters in the journey to discover his roots."
"This will be the final presentation of the show, " said playwright and actor, W. Allen Taylor of Berkeley.
The autobiographical play explores Taylor's adventurous search for information about the father he never knew. Bill Hawkins, who broadcast on various Cleveland radio stations, was not married to Taylor's mother and his identity was kept from Taylor for his entire childhood.
During his time on the air, Hawkins was one of Cleveland’s highest rated DJs who often broadcast from the front window of his Cleveland record shop. A former Pullman porter in the early forties, Hawkins played the best of jazz, rhythm & blues and gospel music on his popular programs and interviewed many musical celebrities that included Dinah Washington, The Dominos and CharLes Brown. Hawkins was praised for being widely imitated and influential on a generation of DJs‚ including Cleveland's rock n' roll "Moondog" Alan Freed.
Taylor, who has appeared on Broadway and in many regional theaters around the country, is a Drama professor at the College of Marin. Raised in Cleveland by his mother and grandparents, he grew up yearning to know his father. Taylor went on to Ohio State University and without knowing of his father's career, spent three years himself as a popular disc jockey for the campus radio station.
It was at Taylor's college graduation party that his mother finally revealed his father's identity, sharing the news of his radio celebrity with the fact that he had passed away only months earlier. Thus began Taylor's journey that led to the creation of his play.
Using period rhythm & blues, gospel and jazz as a musical backdrop, Taylor weaves personal stories of surrogate fathers with unique historical recollections coming from composite characters created from numerous interviews with people who actually knew Bill Hawkins.
The one-man show received the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics’ Circle Award for Best Solo Performance in 2006 and was critically acclaimed in San Francisco Bay Area and New York City presentations, as well as in Cleveland, Ohio - where it inspired the posthumous induction of Bill Hawkins into the Radio/Television Broadcasters Hall of Fame of Ohio.
Short Bio W. Allen Taylor:
W. Allen Taylor's theater career began in 1979 and includes performances in regional theaters around the country including critically acclaimed Off-Broadway companies Negro Ensemble Company and La Mama E.T.C. He performed on Broadway in August Wilson’s "Seven Guitars" and has appeared on network
television and in feature films. Taylor received his MFA from The American Conservatory Theatre. A drama professor, Taylor currently teaches and directs at the College of Marin, in Kentfield, Calif., located just north of San Francisco.
For bios, historical photos and to listen to the 1999 NPR radio program that inspired the stage play, visit www.walkintalkin.com
WHEN: through March 4, 2012
8 p.m. Saturdays and 3 p.m. Sundays
LOCATION: East Bay Center for the Performing Arts
339 11th Street @ Macdonald, downtown Richmond, Calif.
PARKING: Secured lot across the street from venue
COST: $10 to $15 ($10 Students & Seniors; $15 General)
TICKETS / BOX OFFICE / INFO: 510-221-6353
Order tickets Brown Paper Tickets: https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/217632 or 1-800-838-3006
Tickets also available at the door
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